Safety-pin.



"UNTTED sTATns PATENT i Trios.

WILLIAM R. DANCY AND CHARLES B. WESTCOTT, OF SAVANNAH, GEORGIA.

SAFETY-PIN.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM R. DANoY and CHARLES B. VVEsTooTT, both citizens of the United States, and residents of Savannah,in the county of Chatham and State of Georgia, have invented a new and Improved Safety-Pin, of which the following is a full, clear, and eXact description.

This invention relates to safety pins, and more particularly to a pin of this class co-mprising a fixed bar or member having at one end a sheath or guard, a pointed member or bar resiliently secured to the fixed bar at the end of the same remote from the sheath, and adapted to have the point removably positioned within the sheath to hold the pin closed, the sheath having a gap so that the point can escape therefrom, and a keeper which has a part normally positioned in the gap to hold the pointed member within the sheath, the member being releasable at the outside of the sheath and at a point remote from the pointed bar.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive and strong safety pin which can be used for the ordinary purposes to which a pin of this class is applied, and which is particularly useful in surgical work for pinning bandages and the like in place.

A further object of the invention is to provide a safety pin which can be released or opened by a simple manipulation which involves the use of one hand only; which is so constructed that it can be opened without grasping or handling the pin itself in any way, and which when closed is securely held against accidental opening.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a safety pin in which the fixed bar and the point or movable bar are fashioned from a single elongated member formed into a coil intermediate its ends, so that the pointed bar tends normally to assume an open position, and which is so constructed that the bars are abruptly offset to lie in one plane, whereby the coil is protected and it is diflicult for fabric or the like to enter the coil and become caught therein.

Another object of the invention is to provide a safety pin which can be very easilyl closed by a simple manipulation, either by forcing the point of the movable bar through the gap into the sheath, thus displacing the Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 23, 1908.

Patented May 31, 1910.

serial No. 468,947.

keeper manually, or by displacing the keeper so that the point can pass into the sheath without hindrance, the pin being adapted to close in the usual fashion as well.

The invention consists in the construction and combination of parts to be more fully described hereinafter and particularly set forth in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specilication, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views, and in which- Figure l is a perspective view of an embodiment of our invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the device; and Fig. A is a cross section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

Before proceeding to a more detailed eX- planation of our invention, it should be clearly understood that while the same is particularly useful in surgical work for pinning bandages, compresses and the like in position, it can be advantageously applied to all other uses for which safety pins are commonly employed. It will be understood that it is often diiiicult to release a safety pin of thecommon form, without disturbing the fabric or the parts which the safety pin holds together; especially is this true when the pointed member or bar is entirely covered or concealed by the fabric. In the case of bandages, for example, it sometimes happens that the opening of a safety pin causes the wearer of the bandage pain or inconvenience, owing to the disturbing of a wound or so-re due to the opening of the pin. Furthermore, it is necessary to employ both hands in opening a safety pin of the ordinary type, and this too, is often a source of inconvenience and loss of time. Our safety pin is so constructed that it can be independently released by an exceedingly simple manipulation which necessitates the use of two fingers of one hand only. le have made this possible by providing a sheath which receives the point of the movable bar and which has a gap through which the bar can escape, and a member which normally obstructs the gap to hold the pin closed. The member can be released by simply pressing it into an inoperative position, as will appear more clearly hereinafter.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, we provide a fixed bar or member 10, and a movable and pointed bar 11, preferably fashioned from a single elongated wire or other body adapted for the purpose and possessing the necessary resiliency. The wire is bent into a coil 12 between the fixed bar and the movable bar, and this coil acts as a spring, tending normally to swing the movable bar outward away from the fixed bar, in the usual manner. The bars 10 and 11, at the coil 12 are abruptly offset so that they lie in a single plane, and whereby t-he coil is guarded against the entrance of fabric which might become caught in the coil and render the removal of the pin from the fabric difficult.

At the end remote from the coil 12, the pin has a guard or sheath 13, fashioned from sheet metal or thelike and preferably formed from a stamped blank. rlhe sheath when completed is substantially U-shaped, and at one end has a sleeve 14 adapted to receive the end of the fixed bar 10 which is soldered or otherwise removably secured in place within the sleeve. Atthe side remote from the sleeve 14: the sheath has a pocket 15 which is open at the under side so that t-he pointed bar 11 when depressed and released underneath the pocket may enter the same, guided by the arm of the keeper, and prevented by the latter from escaping from underneath the sheath, from one side to the other. Thus the member 11 can enter the pocket from either side and through the slot. At the upper side, that is, the side remote from the opening, the pocket has a slot or gap 16 through which the point of the member 11 when closed can escape, or when open can be replaced.

7e employ a resilient lock or keeper 17, having an arm 18 rigidly secured in an extension 19 of the sleeve 111, and held in place therein by soldering or any other suitable means. The sheath has a slot 20 at the end, through which extends a further arm 21 of the keeper. The free arm 21 has an offset or part adapted to obstruct the gap 16, and normally held in an operative obstructiug position by the resiliency of the keeper itself, which is fashioned from steel wire or any other suitable spring material. At the projecting end, the arm 21 has a knob or button 2S-l. A. similar knob or button 24 is rigidly mounted at the outside of the sheath, and can be engaged by a finger when it is desired to release the pin so that the knob Q3 can be easily pressed. by another finger, toward the knob Q4. Such a movement of the knob 23 displaces the keeper from its operative position, that is, it withdraws the offset 22 from the gap, so that the member 11 can escape from the sheath through the gap owing to the normal tendency of the bar 11. Preferably, the knob 24 is formed at the end of the fixed member 10 or consists of an extension of the fixed member 10 which projects through a suitable opening in the sheath. The fixed member 10 has the end within the sheath upwardly curved and then abruptly outwardly and slightly downwardly disposed. The purpose of this arrangement is to assist in holding the sheath firmly upon the fixed member. It will be understood that any other suitable curvature of the latter will answer for this purpose. The pocket 15 has the sides curved to the gap 1G, so that the bar 11 can easily slide along either of the sides through the gap when the keeper is displaced.

lVe wish to emphasize that certain of the details of construction shown, for example, herewith, form no part of our invention and can be varied in accordance with special conditions and individual preference, without departing from the underlying spirit of the invention. The latter consists in the provision of a fixed bar and a movable bar adapted to be positioned within a guard or sheath and held against escape in one direction from the sheath, by a keeper which can be easily displaced to leave the opening in the sheath unobstructed, so that the resilient movable bar can pass through the same. The keeper may be of any suitable form and the sheath itself may be fashioned in different ways.

Having thus described our invention we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A safety pin comprising a fixed bar, a pointed bar having a resilient connection with said fixed bar, a sheath carried by said fixed bar and having a pocket presenting an open side, said pocket having a gap at the side remote from said open side and being adapted to receive the point of said movable bar, a keeper rigidly carried by said fixed bar and having a flexible arm extending into said pocket, said fiexible arm having an offset normally obstructing the gap in said pocket, said sheath having a slot, said flexible arm extending through said slot and having a knob, said sheath having a fixed knob normally spaced from said knob of said arm.

2. A safety pin comprising a fixed bar, a movable pointed bar having a resilient connection with said fixed bar, a sheath carried by said fixed bar and having a gap, and a keeper normally obstructing said gap and projecting beyond said sheath, whereby said keeper can be released from, the outside of said sheath, said fixed bar projecting through said sheath and carrying a knob affording a grip for the operation of said keeper.

3. The combination with a safety pin, of a sheath secured thereto having a slot through names to this specification in the presence Whiehlthe poilit of the pin is movable ad a of tvvo subscribing Witnesses. yoke-s aped ee er havin arms exten ing through the shealth and prvded With knobs QENSCrEOTT 5 for the purpose set forth, one of said arms A being secured to the sheath and the other Witnesses: having an offset for obstructing the slot. META E. WESTCOTT, In testimony whereof We have signed our RosALIE WEsTCoTT. 

